2015 ADCIRC User’s Group Meeting and ADCIRC Boot Camp

Mark your calendars for the 2015 ADCIRC Users Group Meeting (March 30-31) and ADCIRC Boot Camp (April 1-3)!

ADCIRC Users Group Meeting

When: Monday – Tuesday March 30-31, 2015
Where: NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP)

The ADCIRC Users’ Group Meeting is informal with a commitment to open discussion of shared experiences, allowing the user community to advance their knowledge and skill in developing, implementing, and applying the ADCIRC family of models. Student attendance and participation are strongly encouraged. Presentations are invited and the agenda is presently being planned with an emphasis on having short presentations intended to spawn discussions about selected topics. Some possible general topics for the meeting include the following; suggestions for other topic areas are welcome.

 

  • model development (coupling, 3D, DG, winds, waves, etc.)
  • model applications (focusing on ADCIRC model capabilities and performance)
  • real-time forecasting using the ADCIRC models & operational issues
  • pre/post processing issues

 

Jesse Feyen of the NOAA National Ocean Service is pleased to organize and host the ADCIRC Users Group Meeting. NCWCP’s conference facilities (hit the link for directions) are outside of federal security restrictions to minimize restrictions.

The registration fee is $50.00 per person which includes morning and afternoon coffee breaks and lunches during the meeting. When purchasing your ticket for the ADCIRC Users Group Meeting using this site, you’ll be asked if you are giving a presentation; if you answer yes, you’ll be asked for the title of your presentation. Please provide this information for use in developing the Users Group Meeting agenda. There is also an optional workshop dinner on Monday evening at Franklin’s Brewery, roughly a 10 minute drive from NCWCP. The dinner cost of $25 per person includes buffet-style beverages (non-alcoholic), salads, sides, and entrees, and a cash bar is also adjacent.

Register for one or both events here.

Get Up to Speed at the ADCIRC Boot Camp

When: Wednesday – Friday April 1-3, 2015
Where: NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP)

The 2014 ADCIRC Boot Camp is a three day training event (1 April to 3 Aprill) organized by Jason Fleming of Seahorse Coastal Consulting. The Boot Camp is an intense information and training session for new ADCIRC users. It could be considered a “forced march” of knowledge transfer, hence the name “Boot Camp”.

The Boot Camp will provide the full spectrum of knowledge required to create, run, and analyze a coastal regional model using ADCIRC; this includes the ADCIRC model itself as well as pre- and post-processing tools. Dr. Jason Fleming (Seahorse Coastal Consulting) will be teaching the ADCIRC Track of the Boot Camp, and in a separate and simultaneous parallel track, Dr. Alan Zundel (Aquaveo) will demonstrate and discuss the most commonly used meshing and analysis software in the ADCIRC Community: the Surface-water Modeling Solution (or SMS) from Aquaveo.

 

 SMS Track from Alan Zundel of Aquaveo includes:

  1. The modeling process within SMS (overview)
  2. Background data (images, surveys/LIDAR/DEM)
  3. Conceptual model (vector coastline databases, features, GIS)
  4. Mesh generation for ADCIRC
  5. Mesh editing
  6. ADCIRC parameter specification

ADCIRC Track from Jason Fleming of Seahorse Coastal Consulting:

  1. Comprehensive coverage of ADCIRC’s fort.15 (control) file, each parameter, line-by-line
  2. Nodal attributes file (fort.13)
  3. Output files, including hotstart files
  4. Use of parametric vortex wind models for tropical cyclones
  5. Discussion of boundaries and boundary conditions, including tidal B.C.s
    and levee B.C.s
  6. The ADCIRC Surge Guidance System (ASGS)

 

The SMS software is used to visually create and modify input files for ADCIRC and is widely used in the ADCIRC community for this purpose, as well as visualization of results. For these reasons, knowledge of the SMS software is practically required for new ADCIRC users.

The 2015 training regimen will also include the ADCIRC Surge Guidance System (ASGS), a system for automating the execution of ADCIRC, either in real time or for an engineering design study. Real time applications of the ASGS have included the Deepwater Horizon event in 2010, as well as hurricanes Irene, Isaac, and Sandy.

Jason Fleming of Seahorse Coastal Consulting has led the development of the ASGS since 2006 and will conduct a session called ASGS Up and Running on Wednesday, 1 April. This training session will cover the installation and operation of the ASGS, and is intended to enable trainees to run their own scenarios and finish the day with an ASGS system that is ready for production.

 

Training Schedule

  • Wednesday, 1 April 2015
    • 9am to 5pm, ASGS Up and Running, or
    • 9am to 5pm, SMS Introduction (trainee’s choice that day)
  • Thursday, 2 April 2015
    • 9am to 5pm, ADCIRC, or
    • 9am to 5pm, SMS In Depth (trainee’s choice that day)
  • Friday, 3 April 2015: 9am to 1:30pm ADCIRC Applications

 

Boot Camp Event Includes

  • Continental breakfasts
  • Boxed lunches
  • Printed manuals
  • Morning and afternoon snacks with coffee and water

 

Engaging Format

The presentation style will be a mix of lecture, demonstration, and interactive discussion. The instructors will also specify hands-on work for those trainees that have a laptop with them.

Value

The three days that a new ADCIRC user invests in this training event could save weeks of project time spent in guesswork and trial-and-error. The Boot Camp also provides value for more experienced users, because the discussion includes the underlying rationale behind various features, as well as highlighting time-saving tips and tricks that are not especially prominent in the documentation.

The registration fee includes light lunches and morning and afternoon coffee breaks and snacks for all three days of the Boot Camp. Break times present great opportunities for professional networking as well as knowledge transfer and sharing of ideas among ADCIRC users at all levels of experience.

Some representative feedback from past attendees:

“I liked the format of the adcirc portion of going through each parameter. Thanks again, I think we all got a lot out of it.”

“I thought the Boot Camp was awesome.  For researchers like me, it was extremely beneficial to get into the guts of the mechanisms behind the scenes of the fort files. … [the] format was engaging.”

Accommodations

There are a number of hotels in the area of College Park and Greenbelt, including these examples:

College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
3501 University Blvd, East Hyattsville, MD 20783
Hotel Front Desk: 1-301-985-7300

Holiday Inn in College Park
10000 Baltimore Ave., College Park, MD 20740
Hotel Front Desk: 1-301-345-6700
Book by calling: 1-800-315-2621

Hilton Garden Inn
7810 Walker Drive
Greenbelt, MD 20770
Hotel Front Desk: 1-301-474-7400